Come learn more about a new U.S. Department of Education federally funded National Center to Improve Faculty Capacity to Use Educational Technology in Special Education, Early Intervention, and Related Services Personnel Preparation and Leadership Personnel Preparation Programs. 

CIDDL is serving as the National Center to Improve Faculty Capacity to Use Educational Technology in Special Education, Early Intervention, and Related Services Personnel Preparation and Leadership Personnel Preparation Programs. We are primarily focused on the following activities: 

• Increasing knowledge, adoption, and use of a range of educational technologies that can be used for educator or leadership preparation programs; 
• Increasing capacity of faculty at institutions of higher education (IHE) to use a range of educational technologies in educator or leadership preparation programs; 
• Sustaining professional learning networks related to educational technology in educators and leadership preparation.

Our Mission is to influence change that supports the appropriate use of educational technology in all Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education (EI/ECSE) and K-12 learning environments to improve outcomes for all students, especially those with disabilities.

Our Approach is to empower all (special) education faculty members to understand and utilize Universal Design for Learning (UDL), educational technology, and innovations through multiple forms and pathways of professional learning and micro-credentialing. We are committed to exploring effective ways of translating IHE faculty’s capacity of using educational technologies in educator or leadership preparation programs into improved practices to support all students.We are housed at the University of Kansas, School of Education and Human Sciences, Department of Special Education. Our lead partners include the Toni Jennings Exceptional Education Institute (TJEEI), CAST, and the Metiri Group.

Session Video Recording

Come learn more about a new U.S. Department of Education federally funded National Center to Improve Faculty Capacity to Use Educational Technology in Special Education, Early Intervention, and Related Services Personnel Preparation and Leadership Personnel Preparation Programs. 

CIDDL is serving as the National Center to Improve Faculty Capacity to Use Educational Technology in Special Education, Early Intervention, and Related Services Personnel Preparation and Leadership Personnel Preparation Programs. We are primarily focused on the following activities: 

• Increasing knowledge, adoption, and use of a range of educational technologies that can be used for educator or leadership preparation programs; 
• Increasing capacity of faculty at institutions of higher education (IHE) to use a range of educational technologies in educator or leadership preparation programs; 
• Sustaining professional learning networks related to educational technology in educators and leadership preparation.

Our Mission is to influence change that supports the appropriate use of educational technology in all Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education (EI/ECSE) and K-12 learning environments to improve outcomes for all students, especially those with disabilities.

Our Approach is to empower all (special) education faculty members to understand and utilize Universal Design for Learning (UDL), educational technology, and innovations through multiple forms and pathways of professional learning and micro-credentialing. We are committed to exploring effective ways of translating IHE faculty’s capacity of using educational technologies in educator or leadership preparation programs into improved practices to support all students.We are housed at the University of Kansas, School of Education and Human Sciences, Department of Special Education. Our lead partners include the Toni Jennings Exceptional Education Institute (TJEEI), CAST, and the Metiri Group.

Session Video Recording

The explosion of Accessible Educational Materials (AEM) made possible by technologies, materials and manipulatives creates a UDL pathway to using multiple representations of the same object to meet the needs of varying student populations and learning preferences for different attributes; possibly at the same time. Educators have become aware that they can cross over exceptionalities to use materials, manipulatives, and technologies to meet the needs of general education, special education, gifted, sighted, and visually impaired students, etc. In this resource, a modified version of Jerome Bruner’s mathematical Concrete to Abstract theory is used as a mnemonic device to provide an organizational structure for a variety of science materials. This concrete pictorial abstract (CPA) model can be generalized to other subject areas.

The explosion of Accessible Educational Materials (AEM) made possible by technologies, materials, and manipulatives creates a UDL pathway to using multiple representations of the same object to meet the needs of varying student populations and learning preferences at the same time. Educators have become aware that they can cross over exceptionalities to use materials, manipulatives, and technologies to meet the needs of general education, special education, gifted, sighted, visually impaired students, etc. In this resource, a modified version of Jerome Bruner’s mathematical Concrete to Abstract theory is used as a mnemonic device to provide an organizational structure for a variety of science materials. 

This resource highlights teacher candidates’ understanding, experience, and application of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The phenomenological study was conducted with teacher candidates in the special education major program and the elementary and special education dual major program. The emerging themes drawn from this study suggested that the participants’ understanding and application of UDL were promoted by explicit UDL training in the programs. The discussions include support, resources, procedures, benefits, and challenges in relation to teacher candidates’ understanding and implementation of UDL principles.

Universal Design for Learning provides a firm foundation for the education all students. Students require intensive, individualized services based on their unique needs, in order to participate in and benefit from learning environments built and maintained according to the principles and practices of UDL. The resource of an individual student illustrates the complementary nature of UDL and individualized supports and services.

Wide acceptance of the UDL approach makes general education classrooms more accessible to students with diverse needs, including students who receive special education services. California's traditional teaching regulations are revised to promote greater classroom flexibility and support inclusive education.